One of Envision’s biggest annual fundraisers, the 5K In My Shoes, will take place Sunday at the agency, 1050 37th St., Evans. The run/walk starts at 8:30 a.m. and features a light breakfast after the race. All the money goes to the agency. Go to http://www.envisionco.org/5KInMyShoes to enter or for more information.

Mary Lu Walton moved to Greeley with her husband, Larry, and after working for more than 20 years, she planned to retire. And then, after just a couple weeks, Larry told her to get out of the house.

They'd been married for more than 30 years at that point, so hearing that was a mild shock, or then again, maybe it wasn't. Larry had already grown weary of coming home every night to rearranged furniture. He knew what his wife needed. She needed a job.

She went to Envision in Evans and volunteered for a few months. She worked that 20 years in an agency in eastern Colorado similar to Envision. Once she was back to work, she admitted to herself that her husband was right. She missed people, and later, she realized she missed the work with those clients even more. Envision serves the needs of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Is that the correct term for them these days? What do you call them now?

"People," Walton said.

Walton got a job with Envision after she volunteered, and then she was an assistant director, and then, in 1996, the chairman of Envision's board asked her to be executive director on an interim basis.

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Walton never considered that role. She never felt a need to be in charge. But Envision was struggling. The agency wasn't complying with all the federal standards, and it was in financial trouble. Walton accepted the offer with one exception: She didn't want to do it temporarily. She knew the agency needed a strong leader, and if it meant answering the call even if the agency continued to struggle, she was ready. Even so, she figured the agency would move on after a couple years. In the meantime, she worked on getting things right.

She did so, she said, by hiring the right people and empowering them to do their jobs. Walton never learned how to do that from a business class: She didn't take any classes beyond the high school degree she earned in Otis in a class of 18. She just managed people the way she wanted to be managed herself.

"Common sense," Walton said. "I get that from my mother."

She signed a one-year deal after that first year, after things began to turn around, and then she signed another and another, and now, finally, at age 73, she is ready to retire. She will leave at the end of May.

She used to laugh at people when they told her she would know it was time to retire. Her husband retired a while ago, but she wasn't ready to go. And then, in the last year, she thought about it, but she had a hard time making a decision.

"And then one day I woke up," Walton said, "and I knew it was time."

Walton plans to find a way to volunteer somewhere and wants to visit her two kids and six grandchildren scattered across the country.

Those plans should help relieve the fears of Larry, who remembers what happened the last time Mary Lu was home all day. They've been married for 55 years now, and Larry admits he's worried about his personal space.

Mary Lu has a plan for that, too. She'll stay indoors as long as he stays outside. And she'll leave the furniture alone.

— Staff writer Dan England is The Tribune's Features Editor. His column runs on Tuesday. If you have an idea for a column, call (970) 392-4418 or e-mail dengland@greeleytribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanEngland.

Envision 5K

One of Envision’s biggest annual fundraisers, the 5K In My Shoes, will take place Sunday at the agency, 1050 37th St., Evans. The run/walk starts at 8:30 a.m. and features a light breakfast after the race. All the money goes to the agency. Go to http://www.envisionco.org/5KInMyShoes to enter or for more information.